Greetings on Earth Day from NJHEPS!


Dr. Donald Wheeler,
NJHEPS Executive Director 		"The board and staff of the New Jersey Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability (NJHEPS) wishes you an inspiring and enjoyable Earth Day. We hope to work with you in the future to realize Earth Day's visions and hopes."


Earth Day Reflections: The Year in Sustainability

As spring returns to New Jersey, the pace of life quickens, and we are constantly reminded that we live on a planet that, for many of us, still meets our needs and continues to nurture our souls. As we celebrate our continued good life, Earth Day invites us to take stock and assess what we've done, individually and collectively, to ensure that lives and ecosystems remain rich in resources and possibilities. For those of us actively trying to support sustainability, it's been both a troubling and a hopeful year.

The fossil-fueled war in Iraq, and its uncertain outcome, seems a resource-sapping tragedy to many of us (however much we differ in assessing its avoidability). The US federal government's overt and covert, magisterial, and unprecedented war on any science, any regulation, and any initiative that troubles the fossil fuel industry is even more troubling to those of us who care about human health and the planet. AIDS and preventable diseases continue to devastate Southern nations and oppressed communities in the North. Profits continue to consolidate into the hands of a few agribusiness oligarchs, as hunger and food insecurity still devastate a substantial minority of lives. Ill-conceived privatization schemes, born out of understandable frustration with unsuccessful state-managed efforts, are eroding access to more and more life essentials in developing countries, making even water a commodity available only to those who can pay for it. A host of indicators of comprehensive planetary and human well-being -- the Ecological Footprint, the Living Planet Index, the Human Development Index, the Genuine Progress Indicator, the Environmental Sustainability Index -- continue to remind us that massive improvements are needed if we are to achieve a sustainable and just world.

And yet, both globally, and locally, there are encouraging signs of hope and transformation. Allies in the US Congress are working to reform the Energy Bill, and the Union of Concerned Scientists (including 20 Nobel Laureates) have drawn attention to the Bush Administration's brash silencing of scientific truth. Even the Pentagon now warns that climate change poses substantial risks to security and well-being. Sustainable food options are increasing exponentially. A host of institutions -- including Texas Instruments and the University of Florida -- are reporting on the social, economic, and environmental aspects of their operations via the new, comprehensive Global Reporting Initiative. The World Social Forum, in India, drew hundreds of thousands of community activists, who are evolving both global and local strategies to protect quality of life and the ecosystem services upon which we all depend. And major global institutions, most notably the World Bank, are beginning to decline to fund projects that produce commodities and short-term income but which deplete the human, social and natural capital so crucial for long-term sustainable development.

Here in New Jersey, we can celebrate and take advantage of some of the best green energy incentives in the nation. Study after study shows our state poised to rocket into the future through renewable energy, which will develop our economy and fuel a quality-of-life "virtuous circle" certain to bring a host of diverse benefits to the state.

NJHEPS happily reports that the New Jersey higher education sector is providing leadership and achieving substantial progress in creating a better world:


NJHEPS & New Jersey Higher Education


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